


smudged lipstick; soft smiles

by obsessedwithstardust



Category: South Park
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Oh and this takes place somewhere in their teens!, Paladin Butters, Princess Kenny - Freeform, but like their fantasy game y'know, imma be real it's been a while since sot so it may not be too accurate, well not actually
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-25 14:55:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22497937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obsessedwithstardust/pseuds/obsessedwithstardust
Summary: Butters wakes up to find himself in the very familiar "dungeon" of one very scary Princess. Oh hamburgers, it's times like these where he wishes he'd just stayed home.
Relationships: Kenny McCormick/Leopold "Butters" Stotch
Comments: 10
Kudos: 108





	smudged lipstick; soft smiles

**Author's Note:**

> it's so weird- south park was my first real fandom years ago (like back in middle school, in the ffn era). bunny was my first real otp, and i have so many (bad) south park fic drafts just sitting in my docs, but this is somehow my first time posting any of them- and it's not even an old one! anyways, i always loved playing around with paladin butters and princess kenny's dynamic. hope you like it, it might be a little messy/slow but i thought it was cute! 
> 
> WARNING: butters has a memory of cartman using the f-slur. it's not a huge moment, really, it's just a passing sentence, but i'm throwing it out there in case anyone wants to be prepared/avoid this entirely!

Butters groaned as he woke up. The first question he had was _What happened?_ However, that question was quickly shoved aside for something that felt even more relevant in the moment: _What time was it_? The answer was _too early_ , he decided in annoyance. Too gosh dang early for him to be waking up in- a cellar? That was not how Butters had planned on ending that sentence, but looking around, he was pretty sure that he was in a cellar. Also, he was in a dress. Well, not a dress, a _tunic_ , as he’d pointed out to Eric many times over- always followed by a clarification that it wasn’t _dumb,_ it was authentic and he couldn’t be a _Paladin_ without his- _Oh hamburgers._ He remembered what had happened now.

Butters let out another groan as yesterday’s memories came flooding back. They had been playing, and Princess Kenny had held an uprising against the Grand Wizard and Kupa Keep, joining forces with the Elves to do so. However, she then betrayed the Elves as well and all three opposing sides had one big free-for-all battle at Stark’s Pond. He had been in the middle of healing the Grand Wizard when the princess had snuck up behind him and knocked him out. And now here he was, in the princess’s cellar-turned-dungeon, chained to the wall by his hands. Again.

Just thinking about how pissed Eric had to be made Butters’ head hurt. He was such a dummy. He always let the princess get the jump on him. Or at least, that’s what Eric said. Personally, Butters didn’t find a lot of the times he got captured to be particularly _avoidable_ , and they were usually caused by the Grand Wizard himself. Not that Butters would ever actually say that out loud. He didn’t have a death wish. Eric would banish him from space and time, like he did Clyde, and while Clyde turned out okay in the end, Butters didn’t have a Craig that would help him. He’d just be left wandering around South Park alone, all the other kids looking right through him, and he’d probably get grounded on top of that. He was pretty sure his parents respected Eric’s judgement in a fantasy game more than anything the actual Butters had to say.

The depressing sinkhole that was Butters’ train of thought was interrupted by the sound of a door creaking open. Butters was about to hide, or prepare to fight, or _anything_ , but was quickly reminded of his restraints, resulting in a third groan. When he looked up again, he noticed the familiar silhouette in the doorway getting closer. He wasn’t sure when he had started shaking.

 _“_ P- Princess.” He greeted quietly. The princess stepped closer to him and he finally made out her familiar smug grin, just visible over the flap of her parka. 

“Paladin.” Her voice was always so smooth, despite being muffled. He supposed he shouldn’t expect much less from nobility, but he still couldn’t help but be surprised at how much power and control she put into her tone. It was a weird thing to think about, he knew. Eric would call him a creep, or a fag, or a traitor, but here, alone in the dungeon with the princess, he couldn’t help the blatant admiration that clouded his mind.

“I, uh, how come you had to capture me? I was kinda in the middle of-”

“Healing _Cartman_. Yes, I noticed.” The words were cold, and they hurt the paladin, though he wasn’t sure why. Something about them just felt venomous, far more harsh than how normal Ken spoke to him. He was pretty sure he was never gonna get used to The Princess. He pulled at his restraints unconsciously, hit with the urge to rub his knuckles together.

“Y-yeah. Healing Eric. Do you, uh, know if he’s okay?” The princess’s eyes narrowed at that and Butters felt a bead of sweat roll down his face as he swallowed thickly. He knew he shouldn’t have asked, but Eric was already gonna kill him. Butters wanted to at least be able to estimate how slow his death would be.

“I could make death quick for you, paladin.” _Oh Jesus he had said that out loud._

Butters flinched, curling back into the wall. After a split second he opened one eye and stared up at the princess pleadingly. She watched him for a moment, expression unreadable, before sighing.

“Just teasing, paladin. Anyways, I believe you wanted to know why I brought you here?” Butters nodded eagerly, grateful for the change of subject. “You’re a hostage. To lure the wizard and his allies here. Or, possibly, to be used in negotiation.”

Oh. Butters’ heart dropped into his stomach. That wasn’t going to work. Eric would never spend energy searching for him, much less resources. He began shaking worse now, not that he noticed. Butters had seen movies, he knew what happened when hostages became useless. Nonetheless, he asked, nervously.

“I s-see. Um, if I may ask, your majesty, uh, what exactly will you do if- and this is hypothetical- what exactly will you do if the Grand Wizard doesn’t do either of those things?” 

He didn’t look at her. He hated this game sometimes. Ken was real pretty as a princess but he was also _terrifying_. The fact that Butters was kinda in love with her only made it worse. He wished she’d just come back to Kupa Keep and pick flowers with him. She used to love doing that, and it was how Butters had spent most of his time in the game over the years. Eric didn’t trust him on very many missions, so he had wracked up quite a few hours as the Princess’s “bodyguard"- not that she needed one.

The Princess put her index finger under his chin and slowly raised his head up to meet her eyes. She looked indifferent, almost uncaring, and in a chilling tone she said “You’d best hope that he does, Leopold.”

Butters stared at her for a second, eyes wide, before he started sniffling. The princess- no- _Kenny_ panicked and dropped his hand as tears began to run down Butters’ face.

 _Shit_.

“Leo! Leo, chill! It’s okay!” Kenny backed up a bit, giving the smaller boy room, his arms raised in surrender. “It’s just me! I’m pausing the game dude, it’s just Ken again!” 

Butters blubbered for a second, subconsciously tugging at his restraints once more in an attempt to wipe his eyes, and Kenny rushed over to undo them. He muttered gentle reassurances to the boy as he untied one rope, then the other. Butters immediately wiped at his face, embarrassed, and opted to make eye contact with the ground instead of the former princess. Kenny supposed he deserved that.

“Thanks, Ken.” Butters’s voice was small, and yet, at the same time, he was screaming inside. He was so stupid! Every time the princess captured him, he had to go and freak out! Why?! What was his _flipping_ deal?! He _knew_ it was pretend, he _knew_ it was a game. He understood that the real Kenny was still right there, underneath the shiny blonde wig and pristine purple and white dress. It was just so hard to remember that in the heat of the moment.

“Leo? Hey, dude, can you look at me for a sec?” Kenny’s voice was soft and apologetic, and Butters felt worse just hearing it. _Butters_ was the dumb one, Kenny shouldn’t have to walk on eggshells around him like this.

When Butters looked up, he was surprised to see the Princess was officially gone- the dress that had been pulled over the parka was laying in a heap on the floor to the right of Kenny, a glossy yellow wig slumped carelessly on top of it. Across Kenny’s face, makeup was smeared in what had been an obvious attempt to quickly wipe it off, but there were still streaks of mascara and lipstick across his cheeks and chin left over in the haste. His smudged lips quirked up in a warm, concerned smile. “Hey, Leo.”

“H-hi Ken.” God, was Butters dumb. Why someone as perfect as Kenny insisted on being his friend was a mystery that would probably follow Butters to his grave. “Ken, look, I’m sor-” 

Butters cut off jerkily as Kenny pulled him in for a hug.

“Hey, Leo.”

They stood there for a minute more in silence, until at last Butters’s shocked arms managed to find their way around Kenny’s torso. It felt, somehow, like he’d found his way home.

“Hi, Ken.”

**Author's Note:**

> in conclusion: butters is BABY and kenny is the best child in all of south park.
> 
> i hope the ending wasn't too abrupt, lmao. as always, kudos and comments are appreciated!


End file.
